The Cox Christmas Story/4 Weeks Update

This week marked Nolan's 4-week birthday. It also brought a multi-day debate between Jason and me about whether he's a month old at 4 weeks or not until January 1st (since he was born on December 1st). I will refrain from rehashing our well-thought argument points, but you'll note the title of this post to see which side I was on. :-)

We had a wonderful Christmas. Little Nolan, of course, slept through 90% of it but did enjoy being passed from one loving family member to the next. I think I've mentioned that he really likes to be held, and would prefer to spend all his time in someone's arms. It's almost humorous as it reminds me of a sitcom or commercial...where he's completely content being held and then he cries the minute you put him down, then instantly quiets when you pick him up again.

The holiday began with our now annual Cox family Christmas party on Christmas Eve. We hosted it last year, but I thought it might be a little much for me this year so we gathered at Jeanne and Phil's house. We had all the clan minus Susan, John and J.J., our Maryland crew. The highlight is always a visit from Santa and this year found all the kids (except for Nolan) old enough to be quite enchanted by him. Bailey was amazed that he brought "Just what I always wanted!!" Sooo cute.

Several of the kids...I didn't get a good one with all of them. It was quite a chore to get them all to pose together.

Bailey got to wear her Christmas dress to church that evening, although I refused to let her wear it during the day (as she requested) because food and Bailey's clothing just aren't good friends. We are taking a family holiday portrait on the 6th (just a little late, I know) and I didn't want it ruined before then. But, she and the other girls strutted around in their pretty dresses.


Santa visited our house again that night and Bailey woke to a Little Tikes basketball goal, a bowling set, an art easel, a Curious George dance mat and some walkie talkies. Just like a little kid, I think she was just as excited about the dollar store doll and jump rope that were in her stocking!!! But, again, everything was "Just what I always wanted!" so no complaints here!

This was Christmas Eve when she prepared her snack and note for Santa.

Christmas morning

We journeyed to Clinton for Christmas with my parents on Christmas Day, and were able to then spend a few days there with my parents and brothers. Unfortunately Jason had to open his store on the 26th, so we were sans daddy on the 26th and 27th. :-( Being with my brothers is always fun for me since I don't see them that much anymore. Chance, my middle brother, proposed to his girlfriend Meagan on Christmas Eve, so I spent a good 3 hours grilling both of them about every detail of the proposal. :-) They had gone to Vegas earlier in the week, so Chance tasked me with picking up the ring (that secret errand I referred to in my previous post) so somehow I felt entitled to hear the "and then he said...and then she said" version of the story!! Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS to Chance and Meagan. It looks like they're thinking July given their school schedules - hers as a teacher and his with medical school - so it will come fast!

As a highlight, Bailey entertained all my brothers and cousins with her performance of "Hey There, Delilah." She listens to that song in the car with Jason on the way to MDO a couple of mornings a week....and she knows every word. I wish I had some video to show you, but I don't. Just know that you haven't lived until you hear a 3-year-old sing a folk rock love song! The best part is when she really gets into it on the parts she knows the best ("Ohhh, it's what you do to me....what you do to me....").

Oh, and thanks to my mom for getting Bailey the worst gift EVER. Sand art = WRONG. Coincidentally, this is a present that got to stay at Grandma's house rather than making the trip home to ours!

Nolan just keeps growing. Funny how that happens! This week he has started smiling, albeit on rare occasion. It's great when we catch those glimpses, though, because he seems to have a permanent scowl as his regular countenance. I think he's starting to fill out a bit, too, as his little legs don't seem quite so skinny now. He's not quite a Running Back yet, but we're working on it. His hair continues to stick straight up all over his head, and sometimes I think it's gotten longer already. My dad keeps threatening to snip off his faux-hawk, so I've hidden all the scissors. My philosophy is that, if your kid HAS hair, don't cut it. Now, trust me, he'll get a haircut when he NEEDS one, but he's keeping his spiky locks for now.






I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL holiday....and stay safe on New Year's. I'll be at home and probably in my pajamas. Peace....

Week 3: What Do Christmas and a New Baby Have in Common?

So, what do Christmas and a new baby have in common?

1. Both are fun and exciting and make you appreciate all that you are blessed with in this life.

2. You look forward to both for about 9 months. And, when Christmas and/or the arrival of a new baby is about 2 months away, each and every day brings the question, "Is it time for Santa/our baby yet??"

3. Both yield presents, although the baby's are usually "wrapped" in a diaper and require a good deal of clean-up.

4. Both require singing the same songs over and over again. With a baby, the repetition is because the baby resumes crying every time you stop singing and all of a sudden you only know 2 lullabyes. So, it's "Rockabye Baby" for the 43rd time...

5. With both, it seems like you just can't get anything done. At Christmastime, it seems your shopping list grows two-fold for every one you mark OFF the list(both for presents and groceries for various dishes you committed to make for get-togethers). With a baby, you spend 80% of the day feeding, diapering, cuddling, etc. The other 20% is between 2 and 6 a.m. (Oh, don't correct my math. If I can't manage to get out of my pajamas by 1:45 in the afternoon, I'm certainly not taking the time to correctly figure out 80% of a 24 hour day).

6. Both add too much STUFF to clutter up your house. Obviously, the baby needs blankets, burp cloths, various swings and seats, etc. However, it just seems that these items never have a home and manage to make your house look junky. As much as you try to put things away, they get used so much that it's easier to accept the junkiness and get on with your life. At Christmas, you put up the decorations and get numerous ornaments, candy, and other trinkets from friends an co-workers....which all end up as a part of your 3-year-old's cadre of treasures that she hauls around in a lunchbox and deposits in various locations around the house as she's playing.

Okay, I could probably go on and on....so I'll just stop there. Smile.

We just finished Week 3 with baby Nolan. He's been a good baby and I've hauled him all over the city for various Christmas errands, my company Christmas party, a play date for Bailey and her friend Brody, Bailey's dance lesson and Mother's Day Out pick-ups, and a secret errand that I'll write about next week. He is sleeping well (knock on wood) and has been fussy only when he's hungry, cold, or wants to be held. I remember Bailey cried a lot in the car when she was an infant, but I think Nolan has the benefit of having her in the back seat with her. She really likes to monitor his activity and report to me what he's doing. It's also cute, because she usually has one hand placed on the side of his carseat, as if to comfort him during the ride.

I didn't take very many pictures this week, but I've included a few from Bailey's playdate with Brody, my friend Ilena's little boy. He's just about a year younger than Bailey but now both of them are old enough to experience the difficulty of sharing, so their time together is fun but also requires some parental mediation!!:-) At the end of the day, even after some crying and whining over toys, Bailey still loves Brody. And, look at him, who wouldn't??




And, just for fun, here's an outtake from my 3 weeks "photo session!"


Tune in next time for tales from Christmas (hopefully they'll be more GOOD than BAD!!).

Week Two: Lots of Activity

Looking more and more like his daddy!

We had an eventful second week at the Cox household. I guess I should add "or as eventful a week as you can have when it takes you 3 hours to get ready to go anywhere....just to realize it's time to feed the baby again and the three-year-old already has a mysterious stain on her just-washed clothing." HA!

Let's see...the week started with the ice storm. We lost power about 10:00 p.m. Monday night. I initially panicked, as I thought we would absolutely need to find a place to sleep as there was no way we could survive in the cold, especially with a tiny infant. Then, I calmed down and we decided that we would be fine and we should just pair up in the beds so that everyone had a sleeping companion. So, all the dos and don'ts of our responsible parenting plan and SIDS prevention went out the window for just one night n order to stay warm. Nolan and I shared Bailey's bed and Bailey and Jason slept in our room. I think Nolan stayed the warmest of all of us. It wasn't fun, but we all survived. Tuesday, we spent the day out and about since keeping warm was easier in public places that still had power. However, once we returned home around 5:00 p.m. to find we still had no power, we all got a little depressed. It was one thing to not have power during the night when we were sleeping, but now we were anticipating a LONG evening in the dark with nothing to do but talk to each other and be cold. HOW TERRIBLE!!! :-) Right about the time we were finishing our "fried lasagna" (I had just cooked a lasagna and we salvaged it by warming it up in a frying pan on our gas stove....it sounds gross, I know, but desperate times call for desperate measures!), the power came back on. We all high-fived each other!!!! I have to send my sympathetic thoughts and well-wishes to all the people who endured longer bouts of power outages and to those who are still without. You NEVER realize what simple comforts mean to your everyday existence....until they are gone.

So, once we got past that little inconvenience, Wednesday brought a trip to my office as I had to turn in some insurance forms. We spent some time there introducing little Nolan to a variety of co-workers. Then, Thursday was Nolan's first dr. appointment. He was up to 7 lbs. 14 ozs. and all else checked out okay. Our big adventure on Saturday was going to the mall to see Santa. We usually take Bailey to North Pole City, but I just wasn't up to waiting in line for 2 hours this year. So, we settled for Penn Square. Of course, Bailey is wearing her fake smile and Nolan is out like a light for the picture, but the important thing is the experience (right?!). I do have to say that this particular Santa was TERRIBLE. Bailey had a piece of paper that she'd decorated with pictures of toys she wants for Christmas and she took it to Santa. He barely even acknowledged it. It wasn't like he was mean; almost like he just didn't know how to talk to kids. It was awkward and I find that strange. But, she's none the wiser so I will not fret about it.

The other experience we had this week was the first big poop...and I mean BIG POOP. Nolan not only pooped all over his clothes and himself, but all over me. And, for some reason, it really upset Bailey. She cried and said that she didn't like him anymore because he pooped on me. Then, to make matters worse, he later leaked pee-pee on her bed sheets and she was so upset that he "ruined her bed." Fortunately, she seems to have forgotten about those incidents and likes him again. Aaaah, having 2 kids is quite difficult at times!! Here's a sweet picture from about 2 minutes before the pee-in-the-bed incident. The next is Nolan's "after the big poop" butt bath.

She really takes this big sister stuff seriously!!!

And, on a Bailey note....below you'll find pictures of her singing in her first church Christmas show. With only 2 practices, I thought Bailey would probably just stand there, but she actually sang. We were so proud!

I have no idea why she wanted to stand so far away from the other kids in her row.

Check back next week for more family adventures!

One Week Down

The Cox family has survived a whole week of having 2 kids!!! I'm all for positive reinforcement, so I'm just going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for anything and everything possible. Just so you know the gameplan...

Our week was relatively uneventful as we oriented Baby Nolan to our household. My mom was here most of the week and I can't thank her enough for the meals, the Bailey distractions, the middle-of-the-night tag team efforts and, most importantly, the moral support. I'm a bit sad that she's gone now, but also looking forward to the new challenge of getting into a daily rhythm with the 2 children. I only wish Jason could be here more with us, but such is life. I wish paternity leave was more common although, I guess since Jason owns his own business he could grant himself that benefit.....we'd just go broke. So, I gleefully send him off to work in the morning with a big hug. Maybe that hug just lasts a little longer than it used to. :-)

Nolan is a great baby (knock on wood). We had a more challenging night last night, but he's really pretty content as long as he's had enough to eat and he's not cold. He really hates getting undressed and his little teeth chatter when I'm changing him. He was down to 7 lbs. 3.5 ozs. when we left the hospital so I had to go get a weight check on him Wednesday. I was nervous because we went through this same routine with Bailey, which led to an admission to Mercy Hospital to see a lactation consultant. It was kind of scary because our pediatrician acted like Bailey was going to starve and the Mercy stay was key to her survival. Then, the lactation consultant basically said we were doing great, more milk would come and until then to supplement with some formula at each feeding. I REALLY didn't want to go through that all again with Nolan. Fortunately, his weight was up to 7 lbs. 4 ozs. so they weren't concerned and think he'll be back up to his birth weight by his 2 week appointment. On the unfortunate side, the only reason I believe that he hasn't lost any more weight is because I anticipated all of this and already began supplementing. As much as they say there's no reason why anyone should have inadequate milk supply, I beg to differ. Obviously I'm only 7 days into this process, but it's not looking great so far. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm staying hydrated, nursing frequently, pumping, and taking Fenugreek. Sigh....

Bailey has been such a helper. Sometimes she's a bit too much help. She tells us she thinks he has a wet diaper about once every 20 minutes. For some reason, she gets really excited about doing diaper duty. If only she could do it on her own, right?! We've had a couple of battles for attention and several temper tantrums and bad behavior episodes, but overall she's adjusting fairly well.

Okay, now for the pictures. I am taking the cue of a friend of mine who has a super cute blog for her baby, who just turned one. She has taken a picture every week with a little sign to indicate his age....I think it's so cute and will be a great way to look back and compare. We have a family member who's a photographer and took a picture of his first son EVERY DAY FOR A YEAR. Since that's a little exhausting for me to think about, I'll settle for the once-a-week option!

Of course, we had to get one with little Bailey in it!

How cute is this? Probably the only time they'll ever be sleeping at the same time again!

I think his shirt says it all!

Feeding Nolan takes more than one person (or so Bailey thinks!!)

My mom, Bailey and Nolan cuddling

Post first bath...man, I look tired!

Until next time....peace.

He's FINALLY here!!

Some of you may be new to this blog. I've been writing for a few months about Bailey and my pregnancy. So, if you look back, there's some humorous pre-baby posts. For others, you've been following along waiting for little Nolan to join us. Needless to say, he has arrived!

The key labor details: Started having contractions around 3 a.m. Saturday morning. I didn't want to jump the gun and rush to the hospital, so I timed them for about 3 hours before I woke Jason. At that point, the contractions were approximately 8-9 minutes apart. I decided I would take a shower, get dressed and eat a bite before getting serious about leaving. So, Jason did the same. It was kind of weird since my experience with Bailey was a bit different since my water broke....we rushed to the hospital and arrived before contractions even started. This time, I was in pain every time I had one, but then had several minutes of "down time" that allowed me to function as normal. We got Bailey up around 8 a.m. and headed for the hospital.

When we arrived, they wanted to monitor me for a bit before officially admitting me. I guess most labor/delivery folks are familiar with the false labor routine! After an hour or so, I had dilated to a 4 so they gave me a ticket to stay. Then, what seemed like a short time later, the anesthesiologist came in and said he was there to administer my epidural. I hadn't even asked for it yet!!! But, since he was there, I wasn't going to turn him away. He would have been so disappointed. :-) Immediately after that, "the doctor" came in and broke my water to really get things going. I say "the doctor" because it was the on-call doctor and not my OB/GYN. My doctor was in Norman at her kid's soccer games and had said that she would try to make it back by the time I delivered. Sigh.....

I dilated pretty quickly after that and was ready to go for the gold a few hours later. My mom says the baby cried 6 minutes after the delivery team walked into the room. Everyone was shocked at how quickly it went, including me! Anyway, Nolan Philip Cox arrived at 2:50 p.m. weighing in at 7 lbs. 12 ozs. and is 21 inches in length.

Below, I have included a variety of pictures, some with commentary and others without. We are home now and doing just great....although we haven't had our first night yet!!! Bailey is very excited for us to be home and has been a great diaper assistant. We have had a couple of tantrums over silly things and I had to rely heavily on my mom (who's staying with me this week) to diffuse the situation because I was feeding Nolan. It was a small bit of foreshadowing to how challenging it will be at times to juggle 2 kids.

We basically pulled Bailey out of bed, got her dressed and left for the hospital. Here she is excited, but with still-sleepy eyes.

The time on this picture is 2:41....he was born at 2:50. I was telling Jason "Here we go!"

Jason's parents

Kendy's parents

This looks JUST like Bailey's weight picture.

Bailey is watching Nolan get a bath through the glass.

I know his outfit looks goofy....his pants wouldn't stay on OVER the onesie, so the nursery put his clothes on this way just to keep his pants up!

Nolan gave Bailey this present...a personalized "I'm a Big Sister" shirt.

Kendy's brother Chance

Kendy's brother Conner

That's all for now, folks!